Students of Color Now Majority In Public Schools

In a new report, the U.S. Education Department projected that this fall, the percentage of white students in public schools will drop from 51 percent in 2012 to 49.7. In other words: for the first time ever, the majority of students in the public school system will be children of color. The implications are tremendous. EURweb has the rest:

According to a new report by the National Center for Education (NCES), the racial landscape of students in the public school system is about to change. Minorities – namely, Hispanics, Asians, African Americans, Native Americans, and multiracial individuals will account for 50.3% of the public school student population. 51% of grade level pre-kindergarten to 8th grade will be minorities and they will make up 48% of 9th to 12th graders.

It appears the change in the enrollment is due to the percentage of US-born Hispanics and Asians in the overall population. Between 2012 and 2013, the Hispanic population grew by 2.1% and the Asian population grew by 2.9%. This will increase the number of Asian and Hispanic students attending public schools between 2011 and 2022. Hispanic students will rise by 33%, Asian/Pacific Islanders by 20%, multiracial students by 44%, and African-Americans by 2% between 2011 and 2022.

Meanwhile the percentage of Caucasians is projected to decrease by 6% and American Indian/Alaska Natives is expected to decrease by 5%.

The shift begs questions around how curriculum standards might change to better reflect the student population.